"Reading the mystics, like reading the Bible, means recognizing that they may be bound by cultural, social, or historical limitations even while they speak about extraordinary or supernatural encounters with God. Someone writing four hundred or a thousand years ago will naturally display limitations based on their time and place in history. (In a similar way, those who live centuries in the future will find today's writing limited and rigid as well!) When we read the mystics, we need to read with discernment, good judgment, and common sense, looking for the jewels of wisdom embedded in their words and forgiving them for the natural limitations in their thought and awareness due to the time in which they wrote. . . .

"The mystics represent such a wide variety of perspectives, theologies, and approaches to intimacy with God that it's important to recognize this diversity up front, if for no other reason than to remember that they will not all speak to us in the same way. Just as different people have different personalities, so too do the mystics have their own 'personality types,' meaning that some will appeal to us more than others. Perhaps you are more drawn to the philosophers and wisdom keepers, mystics whose writings are erudite and intellectual, but your best friend prefers the lovers, who tend to approach God in a more intuitive, fiery, heart-centered way. As Pete the Cat would say, "It's all good!" It is all good, and it's also to be expected that everyone will more naturally bond with some mystics, but not all. And every one of us will have our own favorites."